Christmas Decorating Is A Playful Competition

Hampton Roads Masters

You might forget that it's Christmastime when you first turn onto Claiborne Place in Newport News.

A few window candles hint at the season, but it's not until you round the first corner that Christmas and all of it's lighted glory comes into view.

Gordon Weeks Jr. has nearly two dozen inflatable decorations sprawled across his front yard. Rope lights line the perimeter of his lawn and decorate the edges of his ranch-style home.

And while he might not qualify in the competition for the most inflatables in the region, he certainly has a reason to pump up his holiday decor: His mom, also a Christmas fanatic, lives next door, and his younger brother lives just a few houses down.

Mom, Betty, and dad, Gordon Sr., wrap the two-story columns on their house in red lights and cover the rest of their landscape in other festive colors.

But Gary, Gordon Jr.'s brother, is his real competition.

Gary lived on the block a few years before Gordon Jr. moved in, though he started out relatively small with a lighted "Merry Christmas" sign on his roof. The large inflatable Santa Claus and nativity scene came after he married his wife Renee.

And this certainly isn't the first year Gordon Jr. has decorated his house, either. But as is family tradition, Gordon Jr.'s lawn ornaments have grown in size and number. His daughter, 9-year-old Hannah, even suggested that the large Weeks family - 27 in all - break out voting ballots when they gather on Christmas Eve.

We spent a recent evening with some members of the Weeks family, strolling Claiborne Place and chatting about the art of Christmas decorating.

DP: How long does it take you to set up your decorations?

Gary: It takes us about two days to get it all set up. We have about 10 to 12 extension cords running around the yard into the house, and we just keep trying until we aren't blowing any fuses. We have cords plugged into all different outlets in the house.

Renee: The inside of our house isn't as tacky as the outside. I do that part.

Gordon Jr.: It takes me about a day and a half. I know what I have, as far as the inflatables go, so I pull them out and then place them around the yard. Hannah tells me where she thinks they should go, too. Of course, the largest ones have to go in the back.

DP: What tricks have helped you master the set up?

Gordon Jr.: You can hook together about 18 strands of the rope lights, but you can only put together about three strands of the string lights. So I use the rope lights to make it easier. I also use the outlet stakes in the ground for the inflatables. That way, if the (inflatables) pop a fuse, it breaks the fuse on the stake and not inside of my house.

This year, I have so many cords going everywhere that I had to plug some of my cords into my parents' house.

DP: Why decorate so much?

Betty: It just makes you feel happy to come home and see all of the lights. And the children love it. We haven't done as much this year as we have in the past, because we're getting older and we're just taking a break. But one of our neighbors brought her 3-year-old son by Gary's house, and he wanted to get out of the car because he just knew it had to be Santa's house.

Gordon Jr.: I do it for the kids, really. But my wife says when the kids move out we're going to all green and white lights, and that's it. But I don't think that's going to happen.

I use the inflatable decorations because they're just so easy. You just blow them up and they're already lighted. Although that carousel in the corner takes a full 20 minutes to inflate. I drive around a lot to look at lights, and I've never seen an inflatable as big as that carousel.

Renee: It's become a little more of a competition now that Gordon (Jr.) moved down the street. But we also do it to tease our neighbor. She only puts candles in her windows every year, and we tell her that she's blinding us with her decorations.